SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Saratoga's inaugural race meeting in 1864 turned out to be so much fun that crowds returned in greater number the following season, setting a pattern that has held up pretty well for 137 years.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Juan Soto, a tall man they call "Juanito," reached one arm gracefully across Kona Gold's neck and gave the old horse a hug. Kona Gold submitted to the display of affection as if it had been offered a thousand times before, and it probably had. After all, he was 7 years old, and Soto has been in his stall for most of those years.

DEL MAR, Calif. - It was just getting light, and here below the Solana Gate, in a corner of the Del Mar backstretch occupied by large sheds of equipment and piles of concrete debris, the Bruce Headley stable was already in full swing.

NEW YORK - Should the future control of New York racing be affected by allegations that four mutuel clerks at Belmont and Saratoga accepted bribes totaling $12,000 to change small bills into large ones for undercover police officers posing as cocaine dealers?

ELMONT, N.Y. - He reaches for the stars . . . successfully.

Cigar, though aging, was still the odds-on favorite for the Breeders' Cup Classic of 1996 when trainer David Hofmans beat him with Alphabet Soup. And it was Hofmans who, in 1997, turned aside the Triple Crown bid of the favored Silver Charm by winning the Belmont Stakes with Touch Gold.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Get out the Raid. Dust all the corners. Spray the place with Malathion. Tranquility Lake is cranked up and ready to run in the $400,000 Ramona Handicap on Saturday at Del Mar, and no lousy little spider is going to stand in her way this time.

Last year, the hard-working daughter of Rahy was all dressed up for the Ramona when a black widow found its way into her stall three days before the race. Tranquility Lake got the worst of the encounter, emerging with a fever of 103 and a swollen left foreleg. The spider probably went on to make more spiders.

TUCSON, Ariz. - The French Renaissance playwright Moliere died 328 years ago, a bit too early to have enjoyed the sensuous pleasures of nailing a juicy trifecta or pick four, or of listening to the cacophony of a simulcasting parlor in full cry. He was, however, an astute handicapper, as he indicated in one of his plays when he wrote, "The world, dear Agnes, is a strange affair."

And getting stranger all the time, as recent actions of two divisions of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association illustrate.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Did anyone see that dark blue Porsche flying down Interstate 5 Monday night? The California license plate read "8834+" and its wheels were barely touching the ground.

Laffit Pincay Jr. set sail for Del Mar on the wings of another riding championship at Hollywood Park, his 15th, and his first at the long summer meeting since 1991. As he approached Hollywood's closing-day program, he recalled the events of 10 years ago, when he was a mere lad of 44 and fighting hard to keep his place in the game.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Headed for stardom on the turf.

These two were impressive at Belmont Park over the weekend, scoring their first graded stakes victories in a manner suggesting there will be others to follow. England's Legend had the more formidable assignment, having to beat two genuinely talented fillies in Saturday's $250,000 New York Handicap for fillies and mares. Sharp Performance took a major step forward as well, winning Sunday's $150,000 Lexington Stakes for 3-year-olds with a mature performance well beyond his limited experience.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Don't take this the wrong way, but Del Mar will be full of clowns on opening day.

This would be in addition to the usual crowd of cocoa-buttered crazies, desperate for fun, penned up these past 10 months with nothing to do but fuss about the rising tide of San Diego County traffic. Quick, let them loose.